Mutants and Proud
by Lord of Time10
Summary: X-Men First Class Alternate Ending and AU. Follow Charles, Erik, Raven, and more characters through their adventures. Lots of comedic, fluffy one-shots from holidays to vacations. Rated T because we (Lord of Time10 and CompanionofTen) are paranoid.
1. New Beginnings

**This is the first fanfic I've ever wrote working with another person. Keep in mind that this is the sixties, except there are modern appliances. Please read and review. This is a starter chapter, and if you have any ideas for one-shots, please PM me or put it in your review. Thanks!**

Erik stopped the missiles just as they were about to hit the beach. They suddenly came to a halt, resting in the air not fifty feet from them. As Erik turned his hand, the missiles changed their direction, until they were pointing right at the armada of ships ahead. Charles, unable to make Erik change his mind, made a final stand.

"Erik, you said yourself, we're the better men. This is the time to prove it."

Charles watched as Erik sent the missiles flying towards the ships. He won't, Charles thought to himself. Erik wouldn't do that, would he? The missiles still soared through the air. Two hundred feet from the ships. One hundred. Fifty. Ten. Five. The missiles once again screeched to a stop, then fell into the water below. Erik turned towards his best friend and nodded.

"You're right, Charles. I don't want to be like Shaw," Erik looked down. "I'm sorry."

As Erik turned to walk away from his friend in shame, Charles pulled him into a hug. "You're nothing like Shaw. _Nothing!_ " Charles assured, pulling Erik closer. "Shaw was nothing, and even though I don't agree with killing, the planet is better off without him."

"Group hug!" Raven yelled and ran towards Charles and Erik. Every other student ran into the hug as well, while Angel and Azazel awkwardly stood beside them. Raven pulled them in too. "Shaw is dead. Admit your true happiness!"

In the hug, Erik's helmet had fallen off, and Charles was picking up his thought stream. _Why are they hugging me? What do I do? Charles, help._ Charles pulled out of the hug, and everyone else followed suit.

"So now what?" Moira asked, looking around.

"Well, Azazel could teleport us back…" Hank said hopefully. Everyone looked towards the teleporter, who shrugged. Everyone grabbed hands.

"Could you take us to the CIA base?" asked Moira.

"Please?" Raven added, helpfully. Noticing Azazel's wariness, Charles remembered Shaw's attack, in which Azazel was a part of.

" _Near_ the CIA base." And with that, they disappeared in a puff of sulfur-smelling, red and black smoke.

It was nearing dark back at the CIA base in Virginia. They had arrived in a patch of sparse woods, but could see the lights of the base in the distance.

"Looks like we have some walking to do…" Charles pointed out to the rest of the team.

"I'll stay here," Erik stated. Shadows were cast in his face so it was difficult for Charles to determine his expression.

"Erik, if this is about Shaw…"

"I simply think it would be unwise for me to show my face in a government base merely minutes after I threatened them with missiles." Erik stepped out of the shadows.

"To be fair," Alex inserted himself into the conversation, "they fired them at us first." Sean started snorting in between laughs. Alex slapped him on the back of the head with his glove.

"Ok, I'll go." Erik still didn't look entirely pleased with his decision, but proceeded to lead the way towards the base. Everyone except for Azazel followed. Charles turned back towards the teleporter.

"Will you wait for us here?" Azazel nodded in affirmation. Charles jogged to catch up with the group, which Erik seemed to be leading at a pace that was faster than necessary.

After about ten minutes, the group arrived at what they assumed was the main entrance to the base. Moira scanned her card in a slot near the doors and they opened. Everyone stepped inside, and each agent stopped what they were doing. Lots of them stared at Erik awkwardly and with a hint of fear, while the German strutted around the base happily. He enjoyed this new respect, and was becoming more and more glad that he had come. Charles groaned and pulled his friend back towards the group.

They stood there until agents McCone and Stryker came to greet them. As Charles began conversation, Erik wandered off down another corridor.

He came upon what he determined to be a cafeteria and walked in. He sat down at one of the tables to wait, but quickly became extremely antsy. He walked over to the buffet counter. He was hungry, but none of the food looked appetizing at the moment. He slowly walked over to the separate counter usually used for dressing coffee.

There were pitchers filled with cream and sugar packets in small box. Erik could identify this much, but there was also a strange contraption labeled "straws" that Erik had never seen before in his life. It was a black box, with a small tab at the bottom that said "push" on it. Erik pushed it, and a straw came out. Erik felt that it was more satisfying than it should have been. He continued taking straws out of the machine until he realized he had no actual use for them.

He set the straws next to the strange box. _Maybe someone will use them?_ He then rubbed them on the dirty counter. _Humans would be using them._

Erik then set about playing with the metal cafeteria tables. He floated them, stacked them, and remolded them. He then noticed a man on the opposite side of the cafeteria. He was sitting against the wall, eating some sort of pasta. Well, he _was_ eating pasta, now he was just staring at Erik. He appeared to be too frightened to move. Erik pulled a fork away from the man using his powers. The man promptly ran out of the room, deserting his pasta on the floor.

Back in the other room, Charles, McCone, and Stryker were engaged in a conversation about the beach and how Charles had stopped the attack. The other students were sitting in chairs, bored, playing stupid word games. Suddenly, a man in a nice suit ran towards McCone, a look of fear on his face.

"Excuse me, sir, but there's some mutant in the cafeteria messing with tables and forks and straws!" The man cried, sitting down.

Charles groaned. _Erik_ , he thought. He excused himself from the conversation and headed down a hall which, according to the man's thoughts, lead to the cafeteria. Inside, Erik was standing on a table, floating silverware in the air. Tables didn't even look like tables anymore, and there were a strange amount of straws on the counter. "Mutants reign supreme!" Erik yelled.

"Erik, I think we should take a break from this," Charles said. He touched his left temple and Erik fell over into a deep sleep.

After Charles had set Erik on a bed in another room, he returned to McCone and Stryker. "I dealt with the problem. It's okay now," Charles reassured.

"What about the expenses for the tables?" Stryker asked.

"I'll have Erik fix them tomorrow. What were we saying before I left?"

"Oh, right," McCone began again. "I was just getting to saying that that kid, Darwin, is still alive and well." Every student stopped what they were doing, as did Charles and Moira, to stare at the agents.

"Where?!" Raven asked excitedly.

"I think he has retired for the night, but I'm sure he would be fine with coming out if it meant he got to see you," McCone replied. "Agent Ferrel, would you please bring the mutant from his quarters?"

The man from the cafeteria left the room to fetch Darwin.

The younger mutants sat back down, but the excitement radiating from their minds was becoming overwhelming for Charles. He tried to ignore them in hopes of returning to the conversation that would hopefully allow them to return to Westchester, and occasionally go on government-assigned missions. They had discussed Erik and the missiles, and decided to forgive each other, agreeing that both groups did what they believed to be the right thing.

Darwin came in a few minutes later, a large smile plastered on his face. Everyone in the room, except for McCone and Stryker, ran over to greet him, asking how he survived. Darwin responded by simply stating that he adapted to survive. At this, everyone laughed.

When everyone settled down and sat back in their chairs, and Darwin talked to Hank about his new appearance, Charles carried on discussing terms with McCone. They talked for about two more hours, only pausing to allow Charles to communicate with Azazel and tell him to go to the mansion in New York.

By the end of their conversation, the mutants had been accepted into the ranks of the government. They were permitted to live in Westchester under the supervision of a CIA agent (Moira), and they were required to check in with Stryker once a month, to "insure the safety of the human race". Whatever that meant.

Charles was to lead the missions that benefited humans, and Erik was to lead the missions that benefited mutants. In other news, Emma had escaped.

"How?" Sean asked.

"How not?" Alex whispered back. The two laughed while Moira thought something about stupid children with no discipline.

With that, the group retired to the bunk rooms. Darwin took Sean and Alex to his room, Moira, Raven, and Angel took another room, and Charles showed Hank to the room where Erik was sleeping. Everyone fell asleep quite quickly, except for Charles, who was so content with his situation and success that it took him a while to drift into sleep.

When Charles woke up the next morning, Erik was, to Charles's great surprise, still sound asleep. Erik was usually up at the crack of dawn, but Charles figured the metalkinetic was still exhausted from the previous day. Carrying out revenge you've been planning for eighteen years is sometimes hard on a person, even if that person had quite a few tables to fix before breakfast.

"Hank, it's time to get up," Charles said, and the scientist awoke. Charles stepped down the hall and knocked on Raven's door. He heard someone stir in their bed and moved on to the next room. When he reached Sean's room, he heard laughing, so he knocked and went back to the door of his room. Hank was awake and dressed, and Raven, Angel, and Moira were coming down the hall.

Soon enough, Alex, Sean, and Darwin had arrived at the door and the entire group—minus Erik—headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. Everyone groaned when they saw the tables, which were hardly tables anymore.

"You should all get food," Charles said. "I'll get Erik." Charles went back to their room and opened the door. Erik was still sound asleep, and Charles hated to wake him up. Even so, he walked over to his best friend and shook his shoulder. "Erik, time to get up." Erik groaned and opened his eyes.

"Sorry to wake you up, but it is difficult to eat breakfast without the privilege of sitting at tables."

Erik looked confused for a moment, but then remembered the previous night. He sat up and revealed to Charles the most ridiculous bed head ever to be seen. Charles didn't mention it, for he had already sensed Erik's foul mood.

Erik was still in his suit from the beach, so as Charles lead him down a hallway, passing CIA workers and agents were staring and keeping their distance. Charles looked into their minds and saw that they had seen footage from the day before. Charles quickened his pace, pulling a stumbling Erik behind himself.

When the duo reached the cafeteria, everyone, even a few CIA people looked towards Erik expectantly. They were waiting by the tables, clearly annoyed at their state. Erik, however, walked over to the buffet line and grabbed a tray.

"Erik," Charles whispered, following him, "The tables."

Erik looked aggravated, but waved a hand in the direction of the mangled tables, fixing them and restoring them to their original positions.

Charles telepathically told all of the young mutants to thank Erik, and they did so through laughs, for they had noticed Erik's bed head.

Everyone got their food and sat down at the newly molded tables. Erik came last, after briefly stopping at the straw dispenser. He sat down between Charles and Sean. The sonic screamer, after getting an up close view of Erik's messed up hair, started to giggle uncontrollably.

"What?!" Erik snapped in Sean's direction. Sean immediately ceased his musings, and looked the other direction. Before Sean could even try to answer, Alex interrupted.

"Is that why you always wake up early? To fix your bed hair?"

Erik looked confused. He then looked at himself in the back of his spoon.

"Oh," he said, then stood up and left his barely touched tray of food on the table. He exited the cafeteria and walked quickly over to his bunk room to fix his hair.

Back at the cafeteria, the group of mutants were enjoying the free buffet. Both Alex and Hank were taking more food than usual. No one questioned Hank; he was undoubtedly getting used to his new body mass. Alex was getting some strange looks, and not just from the CIA people who had watched the footage from the beach.

"What? I'm hungry. Saved the world yesterday," he told the table.

After the group finished their meals, Angel was feeling a lot more included. They had decided to forgive her. Raven and Darwin were being especially friendly.

Charles thanked the agents for their kindness in allowing them shelter and food for the night, then went with the others back to his bunk room. Erik had fixed his bed head and now looked normal, except for some cuts around his left eye.

"Are we ready to go back home?" Charles asked the group. A collection of affirmations sounded from each other person. "Alright, then."

"Do you think we should call Azazel?" Sean asked.

"No, we don't want to ask too much of him. Moira will drive us," Charles replied, looking hopefully at the agent. She smiled and nodded. Erik groaned. "Let's go then."

The group was about to walk out the door when Erik shouted, "Wait!" They all stopped as the metalkinetic rushed back into the room and grabbed something. When he came back out, it was revealed to be his helmet. "Okay, I'm ready." Charles sighed at the thought of a helmet that blocked his abilities, but shook it off. As long as Erik was happy, he was happy, too.

They walked out to the garage and picked out a van that could fit them all. Moira went to the front to drive, Charles in the passenger seat. Erik frowned at his companion's choice of position, and sat in the seat closest to Charles. Raven sat next to Erik, as did Alex. Everyone else found a spot and Moira started towards Westchester.

"So," Raven started, "Who wants to play the alphabet game?"

Everyone shrugged, except for Charles who nodded enthusiastically.

"How do we play?" Hank asked.

"Well," Raven explained, "We pick a category, and everyone has to say a word from that category that starts with "A", then "B", and so on."

"Ok," said Hank, "Can we do places?"

"Moira, you start," Raven told her.

"Umm, America," said Moira.

Charles followed, "Afghanistan."

"Antarctica," Raven said, a little to excitedly.

It was Erik's turn. "Auschwitz," he said quickly, turning to Alex, waiting for him to say his "A" place.

If Charles didn't know where Erik's mind was, he did now, but chose not to comment.

"Alaska?" said Alex half-heartedly.

"Azerbaijan," said Hank, unaware that no one else in the van knew where that was.

They played this game for the entirety of the car ride. Some of the most entertaining categories were "ways to destroy things" (Alex), "things you could name fish" (Darwin), and "different physical genes" (Charles). Charles, Hank, and Erik were the only ones to exel in that last category.

Four and a half hours later, they finally arrived at the mansion. Everyone jumped out of the van, stretching their legs. Erik had his helmet on, so Charles couldn't tell what he was thinking about, but hoped he was happier than he had been before in the van. Raven smiled at Angel's and Darwin's expressions towards the size of the mansion.

"You own this place?!" Angel asked, shocked.

"No," Charles replied. "We do."

Raven hugged Charles and smiled. "Mutant and proud," she said. Though they weren't related, they were nothing short of one big family.

Raven lead the way down the many halls of the mansion, showing the newest students where each room was. Darwin and Angel picked out their rooms before they all finally found Azazel. He was in Moira's room, resting on the bed. Moira cleared her throat loudly and the devil-like mutant woke up.

"Hello, comrades. Your trip was helpful, I hope?" Azazel said. The students were slightly taken aback by the mutant's attitude. He had been their enemy the day before, and now he was their friend?

"Quite," Charles replied. "I see you've found a room to stay in."

"You mean I can live here?" Azazel asked, surprised.

"If you would like," Charles smiled.

"All mutants are welcome," Erik added.

"Well, why not? Your quarters are quite nice. I will stay." Charles reached out his hand and Azazel shook it.

"Welcome to the team," Raven said.

Azazel stayed in his room and the others walked out. "Charles," Moira spoke up, "he just took my room."

"Take another room," Erik retorted, frowning.

Charles looked questioningly at his friend, then back to Moira. "We'll find you another room."

"Where?" Moira asked.

"There's one by the boiler room!" Erik perked up. Charles glared, then sighed.

"There are about sixty _other_ rooms, far from the boiler. You can go move your stuff out, and Erik will show you to a room _above_ the basement." Erik and Moira glared at each other, then parted ways.

After a few hours, everyone had settled into a room and they ate a delicious dinner together. It was quiet for a while, when Moira spoke.

"I'm proud of us. You know, one day, the government is going to realize how lucky they were to have Professor X on their side." Some of the students laughed, and Charles scoffed.

"I suppose I am a real professor now, aren't I? Next thing you know, I'll be going bald." Everyone laughed, and Charles smiled. "We're still on the government's side, Moira. We're still G-Men, just without the "G"."

Moira shook her head. "No. We're our own team now. We're better. We're…"

"X-Men," Raven finished.

Charles and Erik smiled. "Yeah, I like the sound of that," they said in unison. Everyone laughed again. Erik, for the first time in a long time, felt truly understood and accepted. Maybe mutants really could live in peace.

Later that night, Charles went into Erik's room. He was looking sadly at the tattoo on his arm, frowning. Charles cleared his throat, and Erik pulled down his sleeve. He had changed into a purple turtleneck and some jeans. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Erik replied, meeting Charles's eyes. "It's just that, well, killing Shaw was what I was going to do with my life. Now, I've done it, and I don't know what to do next."

Charles sat down on Erik's bed. "You can stay here. You have a family now, Erik. One who loves you and cares about you. From now on, we'll be with you every step of the way." Erik nodded. Charles thought he could see tears in his friend's eyes.

"Thank you, Charles."

"Sure. Goodnight, Erik."

"Actually," Erik said, standing up and putting on his helmet, "I prefer, Magneto."

Charles laughed and went to his own room, falling asleep. Everyone seemed to be happy, and life was as good as it could get.


	2. Halloween Part 1

Monsters ruled over the town, taking things from every house. Who was among them? The X-Men.

"It's nearly Halloween!" Raven cried with delight, before hurriedly scurrying from the room. She left everyone else in a confused daze, they were so wrapped up in recent events that they hadn't had time to acknowledge future ones. The group had been viewing the footage taken of the beach by an American battleship. Alex kept commenting on how awesome he thought he looked, and how Sean looked like a frightened young girl. Erik was merely pleased that they hadn't managed to record any events that had occurred inside the beached submarine and that they had picked up the audio from his speech.

Everyone was ripped from their thought processes when Charles let out a loud, dramatic sigh.

"What?" Angel asked, eating a few goldfish crackers that were sitting in a bowl on the table.

"Raven loves Halloween," Charles said, pausing the video footage on the television screen.

"Well she would, wouldn't she? Being a shapeshifter and all,'' said Alex.

"She enjoys dressing other people up even more," Charles told him, "Trust me, I know."

"I won't let her pick my costume!" Alex scoffed.

"Underestimate her at your own risk, my fellow mutants," said Charles, "I'd suggest you all choose costumes before she 'helps' you." Charles left the room.

While most of the X-Men immediately started wondering what they should wear or be, Erik was just confused with the idea itself. He caught up with Charles, wary of Raven. Though he didn't quite understand Halloween, he didn't want her picking his costume.

"Charles?" Erik started, looking at his friend.

"Yes, Erik?"

"What exactly do you do on Halloween?"

"Well," Charles paused a moment, trying to decide what to say. "You dress up as someone or something scary, go trick-or-treating, eat your candy, and try to have fun." He suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Unless Raven picks what you wear."

Erik was still confused, but had gotten a bit more excited when he heard the word "trick". "So you trick people or you treat them with candy?"

Charles groaned. "No. It's called "trick-or-treating", but it's just walking around at night taking candy from strangers."

Erik frowned. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know, but it's usually pretty fun." Charles walked off while Erik stopped a moment to decide what he would be. He suddenly got an excellent idea and went to his room to write down what he would need for it.

Meanwhile, Alex, Hank, Sean, Moira, Angel, Darwin, and Azazel were discussing what they wanted to be. Azazel had easily decided on being the Devil, but the others were having more trouble.

"I just don't know what to be," Sean told Alex.

"Why not Woody Woodpecker? You're both loud and irritating!" Alex laughed, earning a punch in the arm from Sean.

"Oh, I've got it!" Moira exclaimed. "I'll be a cowgirl!" No one in the room really seemed to care what Moira was going to be and continued dealing with their own problems.

"What are you going to be, Hank?" Darwin asked.

"I'll be…" Hank paused before lighting up with excitement. "Mr. Spock!" He rushed out of the room to his small lab, sure to be working all day and night on an exact replica of the blue Star Trek suit.

Raven, now wearing her old orange jack-o-lantern shirt, was looking through bins of old costumes, trying to figure out what every individual should wear. She had always been bothered by those who didn't take Halloween seriously, and made lame costumes the day before. Raven was beginning to worry that the X-Men would be those people this year; it was October 30th, the day before Halloween.

Raven had already decided on what to be, she had had a costume ready for nearly a month. She was going to go trick-or-treating dressed as a kitten. She also made a matching costume for Charles.

She figured that Alex wouldn't be as into getting in costume as the others, so she decided on something she thought he'd be ok with; a vampire. She had the cape already, she just needed to buy the fangs and make-up.

For Sean, Raven had selected two possible costumes. She would either buy him a clown costume or a wizard one. She'd give him the choice.

Azazel had already informed her that he would be the Devil. Despite believing that he could've tried a little harder, she allowed him to do as he pleased.

She still had not decided on what Darwin would be... she didn't know him quite as well as she would like to, but she planned on spending some quality time with him soon.

Raven would leave Moira to pick a costume for herself, trusting that she would pick something acceptable.

Raven planned on taking Angel shopping with her, for bonding as well as picking out a costume for Erik. Raven knew that this was Erik's first Halloween, and was pretty sure he'd be suggestible to whatever whatever she and Angel picked for him. She was going to make his Halloween memorable and fun.

"Ok, fine! I'll just be a ghost!" Sean was completely done with this conversation. Darwin and Alex had been making horrible suggestions for far too long.

Darwin groaned. "Really man? After all the help we've given you?"

"Help? You suggested I be Merida from 'Brave'."

" _How_ have you not seen that movie?"

Alex kept quiet. He hadn't seen it either.

Moira joined the conversation. "I think a ghost is a perfectly fine idea," she moved next to Sean on the couch. "I could find a sheet for you if you'd like."

Sean stuttered, "O... okay."

Moira stood up and left in search of a plain white bed sheet. She wandered the halls, looking for Charles or Raven, but could not find either of them. _This mansion is huge!_ She thought of other people who might be able to find a white sheet.

Erik. He seemed like the type of person who would prefer plain bed sheets. She walked over to his room, knowing that he would be there. Moira knocked on the door. It immediately swung open, even though Erik, she now saw, was sitting at his desk on the opposite side of the room. He appeared to be hard at work on writing something. Moira supposed he used his powers on the metal door handle to pull it open.

"Hi, Erik."

Erik groaned, but Moira chose to ignore it. "I was wondering if you had any plain white sheets." She walked over to the desk and peeked over his shoulder to try and see what he was working on. Erik moved his hand over the notecard to prevent her from seeing it. "What are you writing?" she asked him.

Erik looked over his shoulder at Moira. "Yes," he said, standing up. He walked over to his closet. Moira noticed him slide the notecard into his pocket.

"Yes, what?" she asked, confused.

 _Humans,_ Erik thought, _can't even remember questions they asked seconds before._

"Yes, I have a bed sheet." Erik opened the closet, reached to a high shelf and pulled out the sheet. He then began unfolding it. Moira couldn't begin to explain why...

"What're you..." Moira suddenly felt and saw Erik drape the fabric over her head.

 _Aww..._ she thought. "Hey, now I'm a ghost!"

Because of the sheet, Moira completely missed Erik's aggravated and confused expression. She tugged off the sheet, smiled at Erik, and left the room. Erik scowled and shut the door behind her. He had hoped Moira would fall down the stairs as a result of her impaired vision.

When Moira returned, she noticed that an orange-shirted Raven was standing in front of the others, obviously preparing to say something. "So, I've picked out costumes for everyone!" The X-Men tried not to look startled, but were already eyeing each other nervously. "Alex, I think you should be—"

 _Please not a puppy,_ Alex thought to himself. _Hurry, think of something before she says—_

"—a vampire!"

Alex was pleasantly surprised with Raven's decision. "That could be pretty cool! I'm in."

Raven smiled with delight at Alex's reaction. "Alright, Sean, you'll be—

"A ghost!" Sean finished for her. "I've decided."

"But that's so bland!" Raven replied, frowning. "You should change."

"Too late. I've already cut holes in…" He looked at Moira. "Who's sheet is this?"

"Erik's."

Sean's face turned as white as the sheet. He gulped. "Like I said, it's too late for me." Everyone looked confused at his phrasing, so he added, "to change."

Raven was still down about the decision, but moved on. "Darwin, have you decided who you want to be?"

"Well, I thought maybe I could be Iron Man. He's a pretty cool guy, you know?" Everyone nodded in agreement. They all admired Tony Stark; he was, after all, a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist.

"I'm going to be a cowgirl," Moira inserted. Raven smiled. It was perfect for her.

"And Charles, I've made a costume for you to match mine."

"Uh…what is it?"

"A kitten!" No one could stifle their laughter at the thought of their professor dressing up as a baby animal. Alex nearly fell over, while Sean could hardly breathe. Darwin had started crying in his laughing fit. Angel and Moira had simply left the room in fear of their reactions. Charles, on the other hand, had turned beet red with embarrassment, but didn't want to hurt the feelings of his little sister.

"Well…uh…Raven…" He stammered, finally meeting her eyes. "It's a great idea!" He lied. Raven ran over to him and hugged him. The way things were going, this was going to be the best Halloween ever!

"I think I'm going to take Angel with me to go shopping. We'll be back in a few hours, after I talk to Erik." With that, Raven left the room, unaware she'd just caused everyone's ability to take Charles seriously to drop considerably.

Raven, heading to Erik's room, was surprised to see him striding down the hallway, an expression of purpose and intent on his features.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked, stopping him when he walked up to her.

"I was going to purchase my Halloween costume," Erik said triumphantly, puffing out his chest a little bit.

"Really? Me too!" Raven turned around and started walking next to Erik, "Do you know what you're going to be?" _Please say no, please say no._

"Yes! I have a wonderful idea for a costume. Nice shirt," Erik tried to make his way past Raven, but she continued to stand in front of him.

"What are you going to be, then?"

"It's a surprise," Erik replied, and finally pushed her away.

"I'll help you shop!" Raven pleaded, "Just let me go get Angel." Raven scurried out of the room. Erik waited for her… he could probably use some help shopping.

When Raven returned, she was dragging an excited, more clothed than usual, Angel Salvadore. The three of them put on their coats and headed out the door.

Raven ran straight towards Moira's black car, but Erik and Angel stayed back by the doorway.

"Come on, let's go!" Raven shouted, "Erik, I'm assuming you can get this car going without the keys."

"I think we should fly there," Erik said.

"Same," Angel agreed.

"I'll carry you," Erik told Raven with a smile.

"Well, I always have wanted to fly." Raven reluctantly walked back to Angel and Erik. Angel let out her wings and Erik wrapped his arms around the shapeshifter. The trio took off in the cloudy sky, the wind whistling and blowing at their faces. "This is _so cool,_ Erik!"

The metalkinetic grinned at Raven's reaction. "I'm manipulating the Earth's magnetic field, repelling myself."

"Hey, _Magneto,_ I'll race you to the mall!" Angel yelled before speeding off.

"Hold on tight," Erik told Raven, who had no complaints.

Erik went fast; the air they were hitting seemed to be poking at Raven's face with needles. She buried her face in Erik's turtleneck.

They continued like this for a few minutes, Raven only untucked her head when she felt Erik start to slow down.

"Raven? I don't actually know where the mall is…" said Angel, still about 15 yards ahead of them. Raven looked towards Erik.

"I was following her," he said, gesturing towards Angel and shrugging. His shrug caused Raven to move up and down a bit, so he readjusted his grip.

Raven sighed and looked down, something she had planned not to do. Raven wasn't afraid of heights, but that didn't mean she had to like them. They were hovering above a road, far enough away for humans to have difficulty seeing them.

"We should take a cab," Raven said. "I don't really feel like directing every turn."

Erik and Angel silently agreed and started making their way down to a patch of trees near the road, trying not to draw unwanted attention.

They stood on the side of the road, waiting for the inevitable yellow car to pass. Finally, one drove by, and Raven waved. The cab pulled over, and the three mutants got inside.

"To the Halloween store, please," Raven said, and they were off again. After around ten minutes, and a rude comment from the driver on Raven's pumpkin shirt, they arrived at the brightly colored shop. The two girls ran in, leaving Erik to pay the driver. He was less than happy about it. He grudgingly paid the cab driver the required $10.

"No tip?" the man asked ungratefully. Erik glared, and the driver rolled up his window. As the man drove away, Erik tore the license plate off using his powers. The man didn't even notice.

Now happy that he had surely caused the Homo sapiens a bad day, he stepped inside the shop, astonished at the rows of items. There were tons of hats, shirts, cloaks, and capes lining every corner of the shop. He smiled at all of the metal trinkets. He walked down an aisle of medieval costumes, looking at the array of beards and hats. He frowned when someone pushed a printed hat over his head.

Raven was his abuser, laughing at the look of him with the hat. "Yer a wizard, Erik!"

Erik sighed. "I'm a mutant, not a wizard."

"You're no fun," Raven replied, walking down the aisle with him. "Tell me what you're going to be!"

"I already said it's a surprise. Now, go get Alex's costume or something." Raven walked off, surely going to get some ridiculous costume for some poor soul in the mansion. Erik hoped Moira's costume would be something dreadful. He smiled at the thought of her being some ugly creature. _Not that there would be much difference,_ Erik thought.

Erik pulled the index card he had written on earlier out from his pocket and studied it. The Halloween store was different from what he had expected, there were more creepy looking masks and less… Shaw costumes. Erik honestly didn't know what he had thought he'd find there. Maybe he'd have Raven help him after all.

He tried to remember which way Raven had turned, to no avail. He didn't think it would be worth it to look for her in the gigantic store, so he settled for calling her name.

"Raven!" He shouted, "Where are you?"

"Aisle seven!" she yelled back. "Make-up!"

Erik looked up at the signs hanging from the ceiling. He quickly located aisle seven and made his way there. He saw Raven looking at some kind of black hair spray.

"I'm going to dress as Shaw for Halloween," he breathed, moving next to her and looking at a bottle of nearby red hair spray. He looked on the back to see what it contained, but was quickly put off by a red-haired clown staring at him with an odd expression.

"Umm, Erik? Are you sure? I'm afraid very few people will know who you are…" Raven was confused. From what Charles had told her, Shaw had experimented on Erik for the majority of the metal-bender's life. She couldn't believe Erik would want to look like his tormentor for his very first Halloween. Especially a tormentor he had killed the day before. Regardless, Raven decided to show Erik the support he needed.

"So what do you need?" Raven asked, setting the hair dye in the shopping cart she had acquired.

"Spectacles," he began, grabbing Raven's cart and pushing it along. "A lab coat? I really don't know what I can find at this store."

All of a sudden, Raven got extremely excited. She had always wanted to find someone that she could share all of her costume shopping knowledge with, and she had found just that person.

They located Angel, who was looking through costume accessories in the far corner.

"Hey, guys," said Angel, "I still don't know what to be. Any ideas?"

"A dragonfly," said Erik immediately, "That way you can show your wings."

Erik was corrected by Raven, "A fairy."

"That's a great idea!" Angel exclaimed, before running off once more.

After a few more hours of shopping, the trio had finally gotten everything that they would need for the next day. Raven had left with Alex's vampire costume, which included a red cape, a black wig, a suit, a red-jeweled amulet, white and red face paint, and fangs. She was pleased with the amount of items that she had found for him and hoped that he would be happy, too.

Angel had simply gotten a frilly purple dress. Erik had told her that whatever she wore, the wings would compliment it beautifully. Angel had hugged Erik for the first time, then.

Erik had found everything that he needed to be Klaus Schmidt for Halloween. This included half-moon glasses, a suit, a mustache, a red neck thing, and the helmet. He couldn't wait to put on the costume and make fun of Shaw all day.

As much as he loathed it, Erik agreed to take a cab back. Thankfully, it wasn't the same driver, and he made no comment about Raven's shirt or their Halloween bags. Instead, he asked politely where to drive them to and what they were doing for Halloween. The man laughed with the girls a few times, and Erik said nothing. Erik payed the man the required $15, as well as a half-dollar he had made himself as a tip. It would seem very real to anyone who touched it.

Erik, Raven, and Angel walked into the house to find Hank flaunting his now finished Star Trek costume. No one could deny that it matched Spock's outfit in every way. The fabric looked the same, as well as the symbol. The only difference was the fact that Hank was blue and fuzzy. Charles, who was leaning against the doorway, made a mental note to tell Hank that he'd probably need to be a ghost as well when they went trick-or-treating.

Sean was awkwardly holding up Erik's bed sheet, while Darwin was relaxing in an armchair.

"We've brought your costume, Alex!" Raven said excitedly. Alex stood up to examine what she had bought. It looked pretty cool, overall, and seemed like it would be the coolest Halloween costume he'd ever had.

"Sweet," he said simply.

"What are you going to be, Angel?" Darwin asked.

"A fairy," Angel replied.

"Nice choice."

"Erik suggested it." Darwin nodded.

"Are you going to get your costume?" Raven asked suddenly.

"Tomorrow, with Moira."

"What are you going to be, Erik?" Moira questioned, walking into the room.

"It's a surprise." Erik paused. "I think you should be a concussed sheep."

"Why is that?" Moira asked.

"It matches your IQ."

Moira laughed, not noticing that Erik was being completely serious. "You're so funny, Erik."

"Raven," Charles beckoned the blue over to his spot near the doorway, "Can you show me our costumes?"

"Sure!" Replied Raven excitedly, grabbing Charles's wrist and pulling him up the stairs into her room. When they got there Charles saw that Raven had the two kitten costumes lying out on her four-poster bed. One was white, the other black. They both consisted of a furry bodysuit, kitten ears, a tail, and, Charles suspected, drawn-on whiskers.

Raven ran over to the white costume, picked it up, and thrust it into Charles's arms. "Try it on." She grabbed the black one and scurried into her bathroom to change.

Once Raven had closed the door, his false smile was immediately wiped away. He looked down at it in dismay, _why is mine the white one?_ He then proceeded to change into the tacky bodysuit.

Raven burst out of the bathroom, now a black cat. Charles barely had enough time to put the ears on before she was upon him, using black eyeliner to draw whiskers on his cheeks and a little black pebble on his nose.

He nervously looked into the mirror, dreading what he, what the _others_ would see. Raven wrapped her arm around his shoulders, smiling into the mirror.

"You look adorable!" she said happily, giggling.

"Not as adorable as you," said Charles, touching her black-dotted nose.

She smiled. "Should we show everyone?"

No! "We should wait until everyone has a costume."

"All right." Raven sulked back into the bathroom.

Charles was back into his regular clothes in seconds. He set up the white costume so that it looked as it did when he first entered the room, spread out on Raven's bed.

He left the room before Raven left the bathroom, closing the door behind himself.

"Charles?" Raven called, hearing the door slam shut.

Charles quickly walked as far away from the room as he could, not bothering to pay attention to where he was going. He jumped when he bumped into Erik, who was carrying his bag from the Halloween store.

"Hello, Erik," Charles said, trying to make his way past the taller man.

"What's that on your nose?" Erik asked, pointing to the dot on Charles's nose. The telepath blushed a deep red. He had forgotten to wash off the eyeliner. "Why are there lines on your cheeks?"

"Uh...um...well…" Charles was about to get to a reasonable explanation, when Raven poked her head out of her room. She was still wearing the kitten ears.

"Charles, you forgot to-" she started, but then noticed Erik's confused expression "Erik, we're going to be kittens! Charles didn't want to wash off the paint, he's _so excited!_ " Then Raven disappeared into her room, leaving a completely embarrassed Charles in the hall.

Erik looked like he was trying hard not to laugh, but soon he couldn't hold it anymore. He burst out laughing and wouldn't stop. Charles ears turned red, and suddenly Erik was doubled over. Charles tried to stay upset, yet he couldn't help but grin at Erik's smile. It wasn't often that Erik was so happy.

"You're…" Erik could barely get the words out. "...a...kitten?!" Erik's laughs slowly diminished until he was just grinning at his best friend. "A kitten?"

"Yes…"

"You couldn't tell Raven no, could you?"

"I just didn't want to upset her…" Charles scratched the back of his neck. They stood in silence for a few moments, until Charles broke the silence. "What are you going to be?"

"It's a surprise!" Erik whined for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I've already been properly humiliated. Can't you tell me what you're going to be?"

Erik sighed. He wanted to see Charles's reaction when he had the costume on, but he did feel bad for the man. He'd agreed to be a small animal just because he wanted his little sister to be happy.

"Alright, I'll tell you. Raven already knows, just don't tell anyone else." Charles nodded and Erik continued. "I'm going to be Shaw."

Erik walked over to his room, still chuckling at the thought of Charles being a kitten. His bulging costume bag banging on his leg with every other step.

Charles, who couldn't decide what to say, had to remind himself that Erik didn't want him in his head. Sometimes it was so tempting. Charles decided that he would talk with Erik about that later. Right now he had to wash off the eyeliner.

Downstairs, Darwin, Hank, and Azazel debated over what to eat for dinner. It was nearly nine o'clock at night, and no one in the mansion had eaten a real meal since their breakfast at the CIA base.

Hank suggested that they make spaghetti, but everyone else agreed that it would be too much for everyone to handle at the moment. They eventually decided on pizza. After a quick survey of the house, they decided to order three large pizzas: a cheese, a Hawaiian, and a sausage.

"Azazel, can you order the pizzas?" asked Darwin. "I need to find out when Moira and I are going shopping tomorrow."

"Of course." Azazel vanished from the room.

Hank retired to his lab to fix it up. Darwin went to find Moira. About ten minutes later, Azazel reappeared in the living room, confused as to where everyone went.

"Pizza!" he hollered.

Azazel had teleported to the nearest pizza store, grabbed the pizzas, and left before any staff knew he was there. He knew that this could technically be called "stealing" but he didn't have to pay any money and he wasn't caught. It had to be all right.

The first thing Azazel heard was someone thundering down the stairs. The person was revealed to be Sean.

Alex, Charles, Raven, and Angel came down next, then Hank, Erik, Moira and Darwin. Everyone was very hungry, and couldn't wait to have the pizza. Sean got out the drinks, while Charles got the cups. Erik gave everyone a plate, except Moira; he "accidentally" forgot hers.

The X-Men stood in line by the pizza, each taking a turn pouring a drink and taking pizza. Erik had never had pizza before, so he stood at the back. He was just behind Charles, and starting thinking his questions.

 _Which one do I take? What are they?_

Charles smiled at his friend, and answered, _Take the cheese one._

 _They all have cheese!_

After Charles picked up his Hawaiian pizza and poured some lemonade, Erik cautiously picked up a slice of the plain pizza. He looked at it briefly, then set it on his plate. He settled for water and sat down next to Charles and Raven.

Everyone sat at the large table and ate in silence for the most part. Alex and Darwin were giggling quietly. Something about the way Erik was pulling apart and examining the pizza.

Eventually, Moira spoke. "We should all sleep in tomorrow morning. We'll probably stay up late tomorrow night." Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Erik, who had decided he would wake up early just to spite the agent.

After finishing the dinner, which he had liked, Erik retired to his room. Every other mutant, plus Moira, followed suit. Charles, after getting ready for bed, decided he would check on Erik once more before bed. He had decided to be his tormentor, after all, and he wanted to make sure he was okay.

The telepath peaked in through the crack of the door to see his friend smiling to himself. Charles was very confused, but seeing as Erik was content, he smiled and went to sleep. After a few more hours, everyone was sound asleep, even Erik.


End file.
